Summary: 2008-01-26 15:25:08 I had searched for several months for a fast, light, small laptop, and the choices came down to the Fujitsu 7230 and the Sony TZ. And yes, the OQO-2. Being plagued with below average eyesight and modest thumb dexterity, I crossed the OQO off my list, though I believe it is an extraordinary device, and perhaps the nascent future of mobile computing. The Fujitsu is also beautiful, small and light, but I could not find it in a retail store in order to get that all important hands-on test drive. And it seemed to come with only 1GB of RAM, apparently insufficient to run Vista at a reasonable speed, if one is to believe the reviewers in the mags. So- the Sony TZ 170, which comes with 2GB of fast RAM, a 100GB HDD, a reasonable 11 inch screen, a Mac-like keyboard and a 2.7 lb carry weight - became my focus.
Found a good deal with a company called Ecomelectronics in Brooklyn...and voila, 5 days later this beautiful, amazing machine arrived. It's always scary to spend big bucks online, but the transaction has been flawless.
The computer is too. OK: I get over 4 hours with the standard battery, running Aero, WiFi, widgets, several windows at a time, and Skype audio/video, all at once. No problem. The camera and built in mic are top quality, and my friends report that the Skype functionality is superb. The machine is finished in gloss and matte black, extremely well made, no messy fingerprint problems on working surfaces, everything feels solid and I love the cylindrical battery, which gives the diminutive carbon fiber body a reassuring heft, a handy place to carry the machine, and a sense that this "hinge" will not break! The screen quality is superb, on par with any laptop including the Fujitsu, that I have yet seen, and I did play with at least a dozen small machines in my search.
The TZ 170 has a subtle sophistication for which the designers, engineers and actual fabricators in their factories can be rightly proud. My mighty dual monitor desktop, with her powerful chips and SLI videocards and, like, 4GB of RAM....lies dormant now, as I just love to curl up with this little TZ.
But all is not totally perfect. The symbols on the keyboard are done in an understated off-white, rather too pale for my taste, and my old eyes, especially in low light. If you are a hunt and peck typist, you want to see the keys...Sony really needs to add an LED backlighted keyboard option like the OQO has. Yes, then this would be so perfect....
Vista is very pretty, period. There are few new capabilities, and a lot of retro, frustrating and pissy backsteps and cautionary dialog boxes in this OS. Most of the predictable MS OS functionality remains the same, but all moved around, and you really have to open a bottle of wine and patiently slog through the system until you can get it in your head. Come on, Microsoft, you are compromising a perfectly fabulous machine with your revenue generating OS, while just aggravating the poor captive users. I just wish I was smart enough to get the Linux scene figured out....
Sony, to their discredit, packs this baby with a ton of garbage apps and junkware, which I have been slowly uninstalling, in hopes of speeding up the machine's performance. So far, it is fast enough for my purposes. This is not a gamer's dream machine. Don't even hope for that. It is meant for mobile internet, email, communications and file work. This machine truly is Eye Candy.. And there is a decent battery life, and a light, portable form factor. It does its job very well. So far, with one week of intense use, I love this machine!
Note to potential reviewers: don't expect to receive a 'bonus' for your efforts to put together a review for this website. After many weeks of waiting, this pricegrab outfit denied the 20 dollars....so caveat emptor, and yet, after several months of daily use, I still love the computer, getting extraordinary battery life,some 5 hours watching DVDs with WiFi and BT running in background.
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